Asked by: Mary Glindon (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when she plans to answer Question 53853, tabled by the hon. Member for Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend on 21 May 2025.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
I can confirm that a response has been submitted to my hon. Friend, the Member for Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend to Question 53853.
Asked by: Mary Glindon (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of levels of funding in the higher education sector on the performance of British universities in the QS World University Rankings 2026, published on 19 June 2025.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
To maintain the UK higher education (HE) sector's world-leading status, universities need a stable financial footing. This government is committed to securing our universities’ future, which is why we have acted quickly to address the sector’s financial challenges.
The Office for Students (OfS) continues to dedicate significant resources to ensure the sector's financial sustainability. The department has appointed Professor Edward Peck as OfS Chair, where he will play a key role in strengthening this commitment. Additionally, we made the difficult decision to uplift tuition fee limits by 3.1% (in line with inflation) from the 2025/26 academic year. The department will publish its plans for HE reform as part of the Post-16 Education and Skills White Paper this summer.
We also recognise that research funding is integral to universities’ financial sustainability. This government has committed to record funding of research and development (R&D). The Department for Science, Technology and Innovation’s (DSIT) R&D budget has increased in real terms by 8.5% from 2024/25 to 2025/26, and DSIT's allocation to UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) is £8.8 billion, sustaining unprecedented levels of investment to support the UK’s R&D ambitions.
This government is determined to work with the sector to transition to sustainable research funding models, including by increasing research grant cost recovery, as announced by UKRI in March.
Asked by: Mary Glindon (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has made a recent assessment of the merits of Education, Health and Care Plans on (a) academic attainment and (b) mental health in mainstream schools.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
This government’s ambition is that all children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) receive the right support to succeed in their education and as they move into adult life.
There is a growing number of children and young people with education, health and care (EHC) plans due to their social, emotional and mental health (SEMH) needs. Currently, 15.5% of those with an EHC plan who are attending school have SEMH recorded as their primary need.
While no recent assessment has been made specifically on the impact of EHC plans on mental health, we are responding to this increase by significantly expanding access to specialist mental health professionals and early support. This includes the rollout of Mental Health Support Teams in schools, the recruitment of 8,500 additional mental health professionals, and the launch of Young Futures hubs to provide accessible, community-based mental health services.
Improving the SEND system is a key priority for this government. We are working with families, schools, local authorities and wider partners to deliver reforms that improve support for children and parents and provide consistency across the country.
Asked by: Mary Glindon (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to her oral contribution in response to the question from the hon. Member for Bath of 9 December 2024, Official Report, column 651, what recent discussions her Department has had with the School Teachers Review Body on maternity pay.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy is responsible for the overall policy on maternity pay and leave, but how it applies in schools specifically is covered by the Burgundy Book, a national agreement negotiated with employers by the six teachers’ organisations.
Further information can be found on the Local Government Association website. The Department for Education currently has no authority or responsibility for the Burgundy Book.
However, the department has engaged with the School Teachers Review Body (STRB) on other challenges that could support teachers who find it difficult to combine work with family life, as in the oral contribution referenced. In the recently concluded 2024/25 pay round, we asked the STRB to make an assessment of any changes to flexibilities around Teaching and Learning Responsibility payments, concerning the existing pro-rata rule. We subsequently accepted in full the STRB’s recommendations. The government’s full response can be found here: https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-statements/detail/2025-05-22/hcws664.
From September 2026, these additional payments will be paid based on the proportion of responsibility a teacher carries out rather than their contracted hours. Early adoption is also encouraged from September 2025. This will improve equality of opportunity for part-time workers, better enabling them to move into leadership roles.
Alongside this, the department will be promoting flexible working in schools by adding reference into the school teachers’ pay and conditions document for the first time. This will make clearer to schools the expectation that they should be aiming to support flexible working requests where operationally feasible. This will better support teachers to stay in the profession, where they otherwise may have left.
Asked by: Mary Glindon (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to increase GCSE attainment in (a) maths and (b) English for pupils with free school meals eligibility in Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend constituency.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
All children and young people should have every opportunity to succeed, no matter who they are or where they are from. However, the department knows that disadvantaged pupils are more likely to face unacceptable barriers that hold them back, which is why the Opportunity Mission will break the unfair link between background and success.
High and rising standards are the key to unlocking stronger outcomes for every child and young person, reducing gaps and ensuring they can achieve and thrive.
To drive standards in reading and writing, the government has committed £27.7 million in the 2025/26 financial year. This includes new training and resources for secondary school staff to support reading in key stage 3, with a specific focus on readers who are at risk of falling behind.
The department also funds a national network of Maths Hubs, supported by the National Centre for Excellence in the Teaching of Mathematics. This includes the Great North Maths Hub, which covers the Newcastle Upon Tyne East and Wallsend constituency. The network aims to raise the standard of mathematics teaching from reception to age 18, preventing and reducing attainment gaps.
On 6 May 2025, the department announced a further £8.2 million for the Advanced Mathematics Support Programme, which includes funding to support 400 schools with high-attaining disadvantaged students to progress to higher grades at GCSE and into level 3 mathematics.
Alongside this, we are providing pupil premium funding of over £3 billion in the 2025/26 financial year to improve educational outcomes for disadvantaged pupils.
Asked by: Mary Glindon (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the report by The Sutton Trust entitled The Opportunity Index, published in May 2025, what steps she is taking to increase the proportion of free school meal pupils who become 50th percentile earners by age 28 in Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend constituency.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Through our work to deliver the Opportunity Mission, the department will break the link between young people’s backgrounds and their future success by tackling the underlying barriers that disadvantaged children face across the country, including in Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend.
Ensuring all children get the best start in life is how we make the biggest difference to their outcomes. That is why the first goal we have set out in our Plan for Change is for a record proportion of children to be starting school ready to learn. We will deliver this through boosting early family support and increasing access to high quality early years education and childcare for children and families.
The quality of teaching is the single most important in-school factor in improving outcomes for children, especially for those from disadvantaged backgrounds. That is why, as one of our first steps for change, the department has committed to recruiting an additional 6,500 new expert teachers across our secondary and special schools and in our colleges over the course of this Parliament.
Alongside this, the department is providing over £3 billion of pupil premium funding this year to help raise the educational outcomes of disadvantaged pupils, supporting them so they can achieve and thrive in education.
Asked by: Mary Glindon (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans her Department has to review the (a) process for agreeing and (b) number of Education, Health and Care Plans issued for children with SEND.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
This government is committed to strengthening the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) system for all children and young people to ensure they receive the right support to succeed in their education and as they move into adult life.
The department is working closely with experts on reform, including a Strategic Advisor for SEND, who will play a key role in convening and engaging with the sector, including leaders, practitioners, children and families, as we consider next steps.
An education, health and care (EHC) needs assessment must identify a child or young person’s special educational needs, together with any relevant health or social care needs. If a needs assessment determines that it is necessary for special educational provision to be made for the child or young person, the local authority must prepare an EHC plan.
Local authorities have seen an increase in EHC needs assessment requests. Latest data shows that there are 576,000 children and young people with EHC plans, as of January 2024.
The department knows that parents have struggled to get their children the support they need and deserve, through long and difficult EHC plan processes.
We have listened to parents, local authority colleagues and partners across education, health and social care and are considering carefully how to improve access to support for children with SEND. We are also reflecting on what practice could or should be made consistent nationally.
Asked by: Mary Glindon (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has made a recent assessment of the potential impact of the provision of education, health and care plans to children in mainstream schools on the number of applications made to specialist schools.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
The vast majority of children with special educational needs (SEN) have always been taught in mainstream schools and the Children and Families Act 2014 sets a presumption in law that all children, including those with SEN, should be taught in mainstream settings where possible.
The department recognises that some children and young people will need specialist support or a different environment.
Children and young people should only be educated in special schools where they have complex needs requiring an education, health and care (EHC) plan, and the needs assessment process identifies that specialist provision is required. The most recent data shows that, of all the new EHC plans issued in 2023, 74.9% named a mainstream school and 10.5% named a special school.
The department has been clear that a more inclusive education system is needed to give children and young people the opportunities they need to achieve and thrive. We want more children and young people to receive the support they need to achieve and thrive in their local mainstream school.
Asked by: Mary Glindon (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of enabling medical students to receive their student loan provision at the same rate as previous years alongside the NHS Bursary in their final years of study.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department works closely with the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) on a wide range of matters to ensure the education system is supporting healthcare students, including student funding.
The government needs to ensure that the student funding system is financially sustainable, and funding arrangements are reviewed each year. We will continue to engage with DHSC to consider the financial support that medical students receive.
Students attending the fifth and sixth years of undergraduate medical courses and years 2 to 4 of graduate entry medical courses qualify for NHS bursaries. The government has announced an increase to all NHS bursary maintenance grants and allowances for the 2025/26 academic year by forecast inflation, 3.1%, based on the Retail Price Index Excluding Mortgage Interest (RPIX) inflation index.
Medical students qualifying for NHS bursary support also qualify for non-means tested loans for living costs from the department. The government has announced that maximum loans for living costs for the 2025/26 academic year, including reduced rate non-means tested loans for students undertaking NHS bursary years, will also increase by 3.1%.
Asked by: Mary Glindon (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent discussions her Department has had with the Department for Health and Social Care on (a) medical student finance and (b) the adequacy of total financial support during NHS Bursary funded years of study.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department works closely with the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) on a wide range of matters to ensure the education system is supporting healthcare students, including student funding.
The government needs to ensure that the student funding system is financially sustainable, and funding arrangements are reviewed each year. We will continue to engage with DHSC to consider the financial support that medical students receive.
Students attending the fifth and sixth years of undergraduate medical courses and years 2 to 4 of graduate entry medical courses qualify for NHS bursaries. The government has announced an increase to all NHS bursary maintenance grants and allowances for the 2025/26 academic year by forecast inflation, 3.1%, based on the Retail Price Index Excluding Mortgage Interest (RPIX) inflation index.
Medical students qualifying for NHS bursary support also qualify for non-means tested loans for living costs from the department. The government has announced that maximum loans for living costs for the 2025/26 academic year, including reduced rate non-means tested loans for students undertaking NHS bursary years, will also increase by 3.1%.